By Abdul Qadir Qureshi  (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Alpha opening in the basement of Ocean Mall, Clifton, on September 10 was quite a memorable event.  It was an evening to remember as Karachi finally had the presence of Tesco, a reputed British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer.  As anticipated the launch of Alpha turned out to be a phenomenal success with the large turnout, a clear indication of the project generating immediate attention to the extent of creating waves among the potential customers.  It’s the fulfillment of yet other cherished dream of Nadeem Hussain, Founder and Coach at Planet N Group of Companies, having earned accolades in the financial services industry of Pakistan through his impossibly gifted talents. Living to the reputation of being very passionate about whatever he ventures into, the former Citi Group country chief in Pakistan has now got his Planet N Group off to a flying s...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET), Karachi, has passed its budget for the financial year 2016-17. The budget, passed in a meeting of Board of Governors, was chaired by Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Jawaid H. Rizvi, brought in its folds two gladdening news for the university’s employees and staff.  The Board approved the revision of pay scales, an issue which was pending for the last many years, and also announced the launch of health insurance for the employees.  The approval of these two benefits was the fulfillment of commitment made by Chancellor Jawaid Anwar in his very first speech made after having assumed the office.  Chancellor Jawaid Anwar had announced to work for upgradation of the university to highest levels under a well conceived planning.  The board also gave go ahead for purchase of additional lab equipment and carrying out various developmen...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Heritage Foundation, a US think tank, has developed a detailed document on the economical conditions of Pakistan and what actions the government of Pakistan must immediately take to revive the economy. The document has been authored by Huma Sattar, a visiting Pakistani scholar, and James Roberts, senior analyst at the Heritage Foundation, with the title of the special report being ‘Pakistan’s economic disarray and how to fix it’ whose launching event was held on July 1 at the Lehrman Auditorium in Washington DC.  Huma Sattar remarked on the ocassion that corruption, poor rule of law, regulatory inefficiencies among the myriad of problems that ail the Pakistani economy today have hindered sustainable growth and will continue to do so until the government implements structural reforms to overhaul the tax system and deregulate sectors such as the power sector.  A large number of experts ac...

The SECP’s Enforcement Department— while enforcing compliance of corporate and allied laws— initiated 86 show-cause proceedings and concluded 54 proceedings against chief executives, directors and auditors of companies in February and March. While facilitating companies to strengthen their capital base, the department allowed three listed companies to issue shares by way of otherwise than right at a discount and at par.  In order to strengthen the existing regime of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting, the SECP has joined hands with the ICAP for the external assurances of the CSR reports.  CSR reports assist organizations in understanding and communicating their vision of combining a company’s profitability with social responsibility and environmental care. Both the SECP and the ICAP have reaffirmed their commitment to developing a framework for external assurance in accordance with prominent international assurance standards, and within a mutually agre...

The development of transparent and efficient securities market is one of the prime objectives of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Accordingly, Securities Market Division of the SECP took enforcement actions and penalized the market participants for non-compliance with the regulatory framework during the month of March. Subsequent to the onsite inspections, enforcement actions were taken against three brokerage houses of the Karachi Stock Exchange Limited. A penalty of Rs500,000 was imposed on KASB Securities Limited primarily for   failure to maintain segregation of clients’ assets by the brokerage house. Moreover, a   penalty of Rs100,000 was imposed on   DJM Securities (Private) Limited  because of  irregularities identified in the calculation of net capital balance. Furthermore, a warning letter was issued to Time Securities (Private) Limited in the same context. In addition, 12 orders were passed for late filing of re...

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has filed a criminal complaint in the court of an additional sessions judge, Lahore, against Farooq Younas Khan, director/chief executive, Muhammad Junaid Ahmed, director, and Muhammad Zulsham Younas Khan Sherwani, former director, of the YS Securities and Services (Private) Limited, a former member of the Lahore Stock Exchange. The complaint has been filed under Section 28 of the 1997 Central Depositories Act and Section 32(5) of the 1997 Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Act, 1997. After examining documentary evidence and recording of the witness statement, the court has summoned the accused for February 22, 2014. The SECP received numerous complaints against the YS regarding non-payment of funds, non-transfer of shares and closure of its offices without any notice to the LSE. Taking cognizance of the matter, the SECP directed the LSE to take appropriate action against the accused. The governing board of dire...

With year-end right around the corner, participation remained dull at the bourse. The benchmark index rose by mere 3 points to close at 25370.03 level compared to 25366.69 points of the previous day. Equity dealer at Topline Securities Asad Siddiqui said positive momentum continued in the cement sector and specially in FCCL, out of 17 listed stocks in the sector 12 closed in the green zone while one remained unchanged.  On the other hand, profit-taking was seen in oil and gas sector while some pressure was seen in fertilizer stocks barring Engro, which closed with gains of 3pc. FCCL, PTC and PAEL made up for the top 3 volume leaders with trade of 16.7m, 10.2m and 9.7m shares, respectively. KSE-Allshare index shed by 30.02 points or 0.16 percent to end the day at 18690.70 points, KSE-30 share index off by 8.19 points or 0.04 percent to close the day at 18941.99 points while KMI-30 share index misplaced 69.59 points or 0.16 percent to end the day at 42739.21 points.   T...